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She began her career on stage at an early age. At the age of nine, she was selected to play one of the orphan girls in a West End production of the musical Annie and at 12 years old she played the lead role of Annie in a Swansea production of the musical, paving her way to many other theatre roles.

She first made a name for herself in the early 1990s when she starred in the Yorkshire TelevisionDramedy series The Darling Buds Of May. The series was a success and made her one of the United Kingdom's most popular television actresses, but she was dismayed that it led to her being Typecast as the token pretty girl in British media and relocated to Los Angeles, believing that the anonymity she would have in America could help her get roles on merit and not due to her public image.

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In 1996 she starred on the CBS miniseries Titanic, which got her the attention of Steven Spielberg who recommended her to Martin Campbell who was then directing The Mask of Zorro. Campbell cast her as the leading lady Elena Montero which was a big success and launched her Hollywood career.

Fake Nationality: She rarely finds herself playing Welsh characters. After The Mask of Zorro people mistook her for Spanish for a while, and she was often cast as Spicy Latina characters, despite having no Latin ancestry herself. She has naturally played a lot of Fake Americans in her time as well.

Hide Your Pregnancy: She was actually a couple months pregnant in Chicago. When she started to show they would sometimes use a body double from the back and then shoot her from the waist up so you could not see the slight bump that started to appear in certain scenes.

Ms. Fanservice: Her beauty and sex appeal has always been a part of her roles. In 1998 she ranked first in People magazine "Most Beautiful People" and continued to be in the list from 2000 to 2004.

Plays Great Ethnics: She's Welsh, but because of her coloring they often get cast as Hispanic or Middle Eastern characters. After playing Spicy Latina Elena so well in The Mask of Zorro she said that the movie instantly gave her a new ethnicity as people thought that she was Spanish for ages.

She was the first choice for Claudia in the film version of Nine. The part was quite small, and she wanted it expanded. When Rob Marshall refused, she backed out and Nicole Kidman got the part instead.

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